harston



(N0 Model 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

C. G. HARSTON.

V CARTRIDGE MAGAZINE FOR FIRE ARMS. No. 419,518.

Patented Jan. 14, 1890.

2 SheehS-Sheet 2.

(No Model O. G. HARSTON.

CARTRIDGE MAGAZINE FOR FIRE ARMS.

Patented Jan. 14,1890.

N. PETERS. Plwlu-Liuw UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES GREVILLE HARSTON, OF WVHITEHALL, COUNTY OF MIDDLESEX,

' ENGLAND.

CARTRlDGE-MAGAZINE FOR FlRE -ARMS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 419,518, dated January 14, 1890.

' Application filed February 5, 1889- Serial No. 298,731. (No model.) Patented in England October 27, 1887,110- 14|650,a.11d

February 10, 1888, No. 2,065; in Belgium February 24, 1888, No. 80,759; in Victoria March 26, 1888,1T0. 5,725; in New South Wales March 28, 1888, No. 578; in Queensland April 8 and November 2. 1888, No. 508, and in India April 30, 1838,

HARSTON, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, at present residing at United Service Institution, WVhitehall, in the county of Middlesex, England, have invented new and useful Improvementsin Cartridge-Magazines for Fire-Arms and in Mechanism in Connection Therewith, (for which I have obtained patents in Great Britain, dated October 27, 1887, No. 14,650, and February 10, 1888, No. 2,065; in Belgium, dated February 24:, 1888, No. 80,759, and bypatent of addition dated J anuary 8, 1889, No. 84,561; in Victoria, dated March 26, 1888, No. 5,725; in New South Wales, dated March 28, 1888, No. 578; in Queensland, dated April 3 and November 2, 1888, No. 503, and in India, dated April 30, and May 17, 1888, No. 61/595,)of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improved construction ofcartridge magazines or hoppers of the kind described in my application for Letters Patent, dated March 8, 1888, Serial No. 266,622, wherein a lever attached to one end of the magazine was actuated by the rising and falling motion of the breech-action lever of the gun, and was caused thereby to open a door, through which the uppermost cartridge was made to pass out, and at the same time to actuate a lever that imparted rapid longitudinal motion to the issuing cartridge, whereby this was made to pass right made to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 shows an outside elevation; Fig. 1, a detail view of parts adapting the gun for firing when the magazine is removed, as hereinafter explained; Fig. 2, an inside elevation; Fig. 3, an end view of the magazine with the door closed and the carrier-lever in the backward position, while Figs. 4 and 5 show, respectively, an outside elevation and an end view with the door open and the carrier-lever in the forward position; Figs. 6, 7, and 8, detail views showing different positions of the detent and the finger of the breech-action lever.

The cartridge magazine or hopper A is generally of asilnilar construction to that described in my said former application-that is to say, the hoppei has a door B facing the breech-shoe, which is actuated by the breechaction lever 0 through the end lever D so as to allow the top cartridge to be pushed out of the hopper by the spring X when the breech-block is in the lowered position, the top of the hopper being sloped down in the direction of the cartridge-chamber of the gun in order to place the issuing cartridge in proper position for entering the latter.

G is the carrier-lever, which in this case is pivoted at G to the side of the magazine fac ing the breech-shoe of the gun, the magazine being attached to the breech-shoe in such a manner as toleave sufficient space between them. to allow the carrier-lever to work. freely therein.

The lever G is connected by a slot- G to the pin of a carrier cross-head G which pin also passes through a slot A inthe side of hopper A, so that as the lever G moves from the position at Fig. 1 into that at Fig. 4 the carrier cross-head G travels along the slot A.

The breech-action lever O is hinge-jointed at O in such manner as to allow of a certain amount of movement of the outer end while the inner end is stationary, and it has a finger 0 having a head 0 entering a curved slot G in lever G, this slot being so formed that as the lever O is moved up with its finthe inner part of the lever while the outerv part is moving independently through, part of its stroke, as permitted by the hinge-joint IO By this motion the carrier-lever is made to perform part of its forward stroke while".

. the breech-block is still in its lowest position. At the' rear end of the hopper is pivoted, at D, a lever D, connected at its upper end to the hopper-door B, which is urged by its spring At D? the lever B so as to tend to fly-open.

close the hopper-door again, the lever D being held by the finger in this position until the carrier-lever G has completed its backward motion, when it will again pass in front of I D and thus hold the lever and door,as above described. a

In order to enable the rifle to be used for ordinary firing when the cartridge-magazine is removed, the breech-action lever G carries on its under side a separate rectangular plate "0 (shown more clearly in plan at Fig. 1

held by a screw and helical spring 0 so that when requiredit can be drawn away from the lever by hand and turned one-quarter round, and then allowed to spring back into its orignal position, when, as the plate is some- D has an arm which, when the lever is in the position at Fig. 3, .abut-s against the carrier-lever G when this is in its backward position, so that the lever G thus prevents the lever D from moving forward, and

consequently keeps the door B closed. When the'outer part of lever O in rising has moved lever G through the first'part of its stroke, as

5 above described, the latter will have moved away from the arm D3, and consequently the door B will be free to spring open to allow a cartridge to pass out. The carrier cross-head G will then be situated immediately behind 0 the base of the issuing cartridge, so that by ,its rapid forward motion on the continued rising of the lever O the carrier will push the cartridge home into the cartridge-chamber of -the.gun. I

5 A's the outer end of lever O performs the first part of its upward motion, turning on the hinge-jointO, the inner endofthe said lever O is held by the detent P catching un:

der the abutment formed by the edge of the 40 notch Q, and the upper end of the finger C will have a downward motion relatively to the inner stationary end'of lever 0, whereby a hollow at C on the under edge of the finger will be. made to press upon a short arm P of 5 the'detent P. The latter will thereby be forced away from'its abutment at Q, and will now allow the inner end of C to move upward on its fulcrum at 0, together with the outer end. During the before-mentioned motion of the outer part of C while the inner endjs; held by the detent, the head 0 in movingin-a downward directionwill act on the.

slot G of G, so as to move this rapidly over. from the backward position shown. in'Fig. 1 into the forward position shown at Fig. 4, thereby propelling the cartridge into the chamber of the gun. On the further upward .motionof the lever after the release of detent L 1?,-as described, the head 0 will move up- 60. ward, turning on the upper center C of the lever C, and in pressing upon the upper edge of the slot G will bring the lever G back into theposition at Fig. 1. Before this motion is completed the upper edge of the finger C will have come in contact with the projecting arm D of lever D, and in pushing it upward will cause the lever D to move backward, so as to what greater in width than it is in length,its front edge will project beyond the posit-ion shown at Fig. 1, and in butting against the edge 0 of the inner part of the lever will render the connection of the two parts of the lever a rigid one.

The finger C is shown'attached to the lever O by a screw C and steady-pin C; It may, however, be formed in one therewith or be ..fixed thereto'in any other manner.

The pin R for retaining the second cartridge is carried by a plate R, which is pivoted at R to the hopper and is connected at R to the lever D; or, instead of this arrangement, the doorB maybe provided with a tail the charge of the magazine has been eX- a pended, the spring X is drawn down by the outside'button and slide X, the slide of the latter, when arrived at the dotted position, presses against a nose on the lever, and in forcing backthe catch S releases the cover, so that it will be thrown open by the spring B and allow the introduction of a freshcharge. At the same time the spring X is held down by the tail of the catch-lever springing over the-slide X thereof. Upon the cover K being closed again, the catch in being forced back causes the tail to release the slide of the spring .X, so that this is againfree to act on the cartridges.

Havingthus describedthe nature of my invention and the best means I' ;,kn ow for carrying the same into practical effect, I clai m- IIO 1. In a breech-loading fire-arm, thecombi nation of a cartridge-magazine havinga'hinged door,a lever D, pivoted to the magazineand connected with the hinged door, a carrier-lever G, pivoted at the inner side of the magazine,

bet-ween the latter and the shoe of the fire- 2. In a breech-loading fire-arm, the combination of a cartridge magazine having a hinged door, a spring which tends to open the door, a lever pivoted to the magazine, connected with the hinged door, and having the lateral arms D D the carrier-lever G, pivoted at the inner side of the magazine, between the latter and the shoe of the fire-arm, and the breech-action lever 0, having the finger (J loosely connected with the carrier-lever, substantially as described.

In a breech-loading fire-arm, the combination of a magazine, a cartridge-carrier lever pivoted thereupon, a breech-action lever composed of two parts jointed together, and

having its outer part connected with the carrier-lever, and a device, substantially such as described, for holding the inner part of the breech-action lever stationary while the outer end thereof is moved to actuate the carrierlever.

4. In a breech-loading fire-arm, the combination, with a cartridge-magazine and magazine mechanism for advancing a cartridge into the cartridge-chamber of the fire-arm, of a breech-action lever composed of two parts jointed together, and having its outer end connected with the magazine mechanism that propels the cartridge, and a device, substan-,

tially such as described, for holding the inner part of the breech-action lever stationary while the outer part is moved to actuate the magazine mechanism.

5. In a breech-loading fire-arm, the combination, with a cartridge-magazine and magazine mechanism for advancing a cartridge into the cartridge-chamber, of a breech-action lever composed of two parts jointed together, and the outer part connected with the magazine mechanism, and a locking-plate pivoted on onepart of said lever, and adapted to be turned to engage the other part for making the joint of the two parts of the lever rigid, substantially as described.

6. In a breech-loading fire-arm, the combination, with a magazine having a cartridgecarrier lever G pivoted to its inner side and provided with a curved slot G of a breechaetion lever composed of two parts jointed together, a finger C on the outer part of the breech-action lever, having a head 0 engaging the slot of the carrier-lever, and means, substantially as described, for holding the inner part of the breech-action lever stationary during a portion of the upward movement of the outer part of said breech-action lever.

7. In a breech-loading fire-arm, the combination of a magazine having a hinged door, a carrier-lever pivoted to the magazine, between the latter and the shoe of the fire-arm, a lever pivoted to the end of the magazine and connected with the door, a breech-action lever composed of two parts jointed together, and a finger connecting the outer part of the breechaction lever with the carrier-lever to operate the latter and act on the arm of the lever which is connected With the door for closing the latter, substantially as described.

8. The combination of a cartridge-magazine having a hinged door, alever I), pivoted to the magazine and connected with the door, a plate R, pivoted to the magazine, having a slotted connection with the said lever and provided with a pin R, extending into the magazine to hold the second cartridge while the uppermost one is removed, a cartridge-carrier lever pivoted on the magazine, and a breech-action lever for operating the carrier and door-levers, substantially as described.

9. The combin ation of a cartridge-magazine having a slot A, a carrier-lever G, having a slot G2 in its upper end and a slot G at its lower end, and provided with a carrier crosshead G working in said upper slot of the lever and engaging the slot in the magazine, a breech-action lever 0, having the detent P, and composed of two parts jointed together, and a finger C mounted on the outer part of the breech-action lever and having a head 0 10. The combination,with a cartridge-magawith a slide X for depressing the spring, of a hinged magazine-door K, a spring for throwing the door open, a spring-catch S for holding the door closed, and a lever S on the magazine operated by the slide in its downward movement to release the spring-catch, substantially as described.

11. In a side cartridge-magazine, the combination of the hinged door K, a lever D,that holds the door of the magazine closed, and a plate R, pivoted to the magazine and having a slotted connection with said lever and carrying a pin R, projecting through a slot into the cartridge-magazine to project over the second cartridge and retain it while the uppermost one is being ejected.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 22d day of January, A. D. 1889.

C. GREVILLE HARSTON. Witnesses:

OLIVER IMRAY, Patent Agent, 28 Southampton Buildings,

London, W. 0.

M10. P. M. MILLARD, Clerk to .Messrs. Abel dc I'mra'g, Consulting Engineers and Patent Agents, 28 Southampton Buildings, London, W C.

. zine containing the spring X, and provided 

